It also noted that Florida “is long overdue” for a hurricane hit, as the state hasn’t been struck in a record seven seasons. And it projects that the first storm will develop in the Caribbean by June.

"We think that this year will be more in line with a typical active season," Dan Kottlowski, AccuWeather’s senior meteorologist, said Wednesday.

Kottlowski said warm waters in the Atlantic, relaxed wind shear and reduced episodes of Saharan dust should make for an active season.

He said the storms should be overall stronger than they were last year, with the hurricanes likely to be Category 2 or stronger.

AccuWeather joins Phil Klotzbach and William Gray in forecasting a considerably busier than normal storm season. In April, the two Colorado State University climatologists projected 18 named storms, including nine hurricanes, four major.

The average season sees 12 named storms, including six hurricanes, three major, with winds greater than 110 mph.

A divided state Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a new trial in the controversial murder case against Richard Lapointe, concluding that the mentally disabled dishwasher was denied evidence supporting his innocence when he was tried and convicted a quarter century ago for the rape and murder...

FALL RIVER, Mass. -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft marched into courtroom 7 at the Fall River Justice Center Tuesday and told jurors that two days after Odin Lloyd was found dead, former tight end Aaron Hernandez looked him in the eye and told him he was completely innocent.